In recent years, in view of an aging problem of a coke oven, there is an attempt to prolong a service life of the coke oven by decreasing an operating rate thereof. For such attempt, an operation of a blast furnace has been conducted while an injection quantity of pulverized coals was increased.
However, an increase of the injection quantity of pulverized coals into the blast furnace bring about not only a decrease of coke ratio but also an increase of load to coke in the blast furnace derived from an increase of an ore to coke ratio whereupon such increase of load exceeds coke strength to promote degradation of coke. Such degradation of coke aggravates gas permeability in the blast furnace to effect operational abnormalities such as hanging, slip and the like of a burden which, in the end, remarkably deteriorate an operation of the blast furnace. For this reason, it is important to suppress degradation of coke as much as possible.
Meanwhile, the coke in the blast furnace reacts with carbon dioxide (CO2) to be partially gasified whereupon the coke becomes porous effecting a decrease of strength thereof. As a method of suppressing such decrease of the strength thereof, a technique to reduce the reactivity with CO2 has heretofore been under review; however, such technique causes an increase of energy cost of the blast furnace. Therefore, it is not advantageous from a standpoint of cost reduction and nowadays an operation with a low fuel ratio is rather required. In order to conduct such operation with a low fuel ratio, it is effective to pursue an increase of a reduction efficiency in the blast furnace by decreasing an operational temperature down to a temperature in a thermal reserve zone in a neighborhood of wustite-iron reduction equilibrium. For the reason described above, it is considered to use high reactive coke (CAMP-ISIJ, Vol. 5 (1992) 156).
Further, as a method of producing such high reactive coke, a method of increasing a ratio of non- to slight-caking coal in a material coal blend, a method of adding an inert coal material, that is, blending an inert substance as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 313171/1994 and a method of blending char derived from a low carbonization coal as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 117991 have been attempted.
However, as the blast furnace coke to be used under a circumstance in which the operation with a low fuel ratio as described above is required, a coke having characteristics that is high reactivity in a temperature region between a thermal reserve zone and a melting zone and also is hard to be degradation even after a reaction and another characteristic that is resistant to degradation in a temperature region between the melting zone to lower side of the furnace including a raceway section is required.
In relation with degradation characteristic of coke in the blast furnace, an understanding as described below has been prevailing. That is, as an index of this degradation characteristic, reactivity with CO2 (CRI) and strength after reaction with CO2 (CSR) are used and, particularly, CSR is regarded as important. Therefore, in blast furnace operations of Japanese iron and steel manufacturers, a management value is set on CSR and productions of coke have been conducted while maintaining a consistent CSR. However, as indicated by A line shown in FIG. 1, CRI and CSR are correlated with each other in a favorable manner; therefore, there has existed a problem that, if CSR is attempted to be maintained above a specified value, then CRI must be suppressed below another specified value. Plots in a neighborhood of the A line denote respective results of measurements of strengths after reactions on data prepared by varying a reaction time of process coke with CO2 (at the time of CRI being 25%, CSR being 60.9%).
In this regard, ordinary methods such as a method of increase a blending ratio of the non- to slight-caking coal, a method of adding an inert coal material and the like surely increase reactivity of coke, but, on the other hand, decrease melting capability between coal particles to effect decrease of coke strength; hence, it can not be said that they are effective methods of solving the above-described problems.